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Executive Search Explained: A Leadership Hiring Guide

on an executive search

Who you have leading your company affects every level of your organization and its performance. A great management team can impact your retention levels, profits, and company culture, which is why when you’re hiring for your executive team, it’s crucial to get it right. And that means determining the best process to find the right candidates. 

While hiring an entry level employee or mid-level manager can often be done with traditional recruitment tactics, many companies turn to an executive search agency when they need to hire someone to be a member of upper management. Read on to learn more about what executive search is, how it works, and when it’s a good idea to use this type of process. 

An executive search firm specializes in identifying and recruiting top-level professionals for high level management positions. But what is executive search exactly? It is a specialized recruitment process aimed at finding the right leadership candidates for key roles within an organization. These firms use their expertise — and extensive networks — to find candidates who meet specific organizational needs. Their advanced search techniques and thorough assessments mean that only the most qualified individuals are considered for leadership roles within your organization.

Executive search agencies will specialize in finding candidates that align with your organization’s goals and values, and they’ll often work alongside your team to perform interviews and determine who the best fit for the role is. 

If your company decides to hire an executive search agency, this is what the process will typically look like: 

Initial Consultation and Understanding Client Needs

First, the headhunters will meet with you and your team to better understand exactly what you’re looking for. They’ll want to learn more about your company’s values, mission, and objectives — as well as your long-term goals for growth. This initial consultation is to help everyone get on the same page about who might be able to lead your organization moving forward. 

Market Research and Candidate Sourcing

After the executive searchers understand your needs, they’ll begin researching and finding the right candidates. Generally, headhunters will have spent time building relationships with a wide variety of people, so they often know someone off the top of their head who would be perfect for your business. Thanks to that connection, the agency can reach out and start a conversation with that individual about your company to gauge their interest. 

If the agency’s recruiters don’t know people already, they’ll begin networking aided by market research. They’ll reach out to contacts and search for names of people who might be the right fit for your organization. Once they have gotten some recommendations, they’ll begin reaching out to that individual and introducing them to your company. 

Screening and Assessment

Once the executive search agency finds a couple of candidates, they will likely vet them for you. That often includes performing background checks and initial interviews to determine if someone is a good fit for your organization. This process is typically very thorough and can take some time. 

Final Selection and Offer Negotiation

Depending on your goals and the agency you hire, this last step can vary. Sometimes, companies will have the agency pick out someone for them to hire and perform all of the interviews and negotiate an offer. Often, they’ll work alongside your team to make the final selection and negotiate an offer. If that’s the case, they may join you for interviews and give you advice on who they think would be the best fit. 

Occasionally, an agency will just provide you with candidates, and you’ll take care of all of the hiring steps. All three approaches work, it just depends on what your organization needs. 

Executive Search vs. Traditional Recruitment

These are the main ways the executive search process differs from traditional recruitment: 

Executive SearchTraditional Recruitment
Hiring for C-suite or leadership positionsBroader scope, including lower-level and entry-level positions
In-depth vetting processUsually only involves 1–3 interviews
Provides 1–3 candidates for a positionHigher volume of applicants for a position
Typically targets passive job seekers who already hold a positionTypically targets active job seekers who aren’t currently employed or actively looking to move companies
Extremely personalized approachLess personal and more generalized strategies

Benefits of Executive Search Services

Using executive search agencies can provide your organization with these advantages: 

Access to Hidden Talent

With typical recruiting processes, you’re usually only going to reach active job seekers — which limits your talent pool. Utilizing executive search services gives you more access to passive job seekers who you couldn’t normally find. This can increase your talent pool and help you find the best person for the job. 

Time Efficiency

If you work in HR, you already have a lot on your plate every day. Hiring can already take up so much of your time, and recruiting for executive positions can be even more time consuming and difficult. Relying on executive search agencies can help you make the most of your time because you’ll be able to focus on other priorities while the headhunters find you the best candidates. 

Reduced Hiring Risk

Hiring always comes with a certain amount of risk, and while you can’t completely eliminate it, you can reduce it drastically with headhunting. The executive search agency will perform an extensive assessment and screening process, and that increases the chances that you’re finding the right person for the job. 

Improved Retention Rates

Finding the perfect fit also helps you reduce turnover. When you work with executive search services, you increase the likelihood that the candidates you hire will stay for years to come — which is important because turnover can cost your company half of that individual’s salary. 

Executive search isn’t always the answer. In fact, it’s most powerful only in specific scenarios like these: 

Filling Leadership Vacancies

Hiring someone for your top leadership team is one of the most common times to use executive search. Companies will often use these services to hire CEOs, board members, CFOs, COOs, VPs, and more. These are often the hardest positions to fill, so it’s helpful to employ experts in the field to help your team. 

Business Expansion

If your company is looking to grow, you’ll likely need more high level executives to oversee that. This is a situation where your team could greatly benefit from working with an executive search agency for some time to help you fill all the roles you’ll need. 

Turnaround Situations

When a member or your leadership team is leaving, it’s important to fill that role quickly. Executive search services can help you find high quality candidates much faster than if you were relying on traditional hiring techniques. 

Confidential Searches

Sometimes an organization wants to replace an employee without that person knowing about the upcoming change. One of the best ways to hire in this situation is with executive search because the entire process can be outsourced and kept completely confidential. 

When your organization needs executive search services, look no further than CPS HR. We have proven expertise in executive level recruitment with customized executive recruitment strategies based on your individual needs. We provide comprehensive support throughout the entire hiring process, and will work with you for years to come to meet all of your leadership needs. 

Contact us today for your executive search needs.